Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/241

Rh north side. Within this ramp is. a fosse which widens as it approaches the sea, having a breadth of 150 feet in the part where the gateway from the ramp opens into it. This end of the fosse is protected by a casemated battery, to hinder the landing of troops within the glacis. This battery has a roof of solid masonry, gabled externally to prevent the lodgment of shells. The north side is further strengthened by two towers, connected by a curtain wall, and a smaller fosse running parallel to the larger fosse. On the western side, which faces the harbour, the castle is defended by a wide rampart, within which is a deep fosse. It is in the sea face of this rampart that the lions’ heads from the Mausoleum are placed. On the eastern and southern sides the external wall of defence is a curtain wall with a strong tower at the south-east corner. The opposite angle on the south-west is protected by a platform with em brasures for nine guns on the south and eight on the west. The entrance to the castle is through a series of seven gateways, up to the first of which the ramp in the northern glacis leads. After crossing the northern fosse the road passes through three more gateways into the sea rampart of the western fosse, and thence winding through three more gateways, finally enters the interior of the fortress at its south-western angle. The seventh and last of these gateways is protected by the platform already noticed. The object of so winding an approach was, of course, to guard against surprises. The area contained within these external defences is divided into an outer and inner bayle. In the inner bayle, which is the highest ground within the castle, are two lofty square towers, which form the keep. The outer bayle contains the chapel of the knights. The two central towers seem to be the earliest part of the fortress, which was